BEST OF SULAWESI & HALMAHERA TOUR REPORT 2022

BEST OF SULAWESI & HALMAHERA TOUR REPORT 2022

This year’s ‘Best of Sulawesi and Halmahera’ was the first to revisit the islands since the onset of the Covid- 19 pandemic. We were fortunate that travel restrictions had largely been lifted in Indonesia, so our travels went mostly without a hitch. Habitat degradation continues; however, it wasn’t too awful, and a few trails and tracks were overgrown or suffered rain damage. Indeed, the rain followed us, nevertheless we enjoyed a fine tour with many excellent birds. On Sulawesi we enjoyed the delights of montane forest birding at Lore Lindu where we saw six Satanic Nightjars, Sombre Pigeon, Cinnabar and Speckled Boobook, Sulawesi Masked Owl, Eastern Grass Owl, Sulawesi Serpent and Sulawesi Hawk Eagles, Purple-bearded Bee-eater, Sulawesi Thrush, White-eared Myza and Hylocitrea. In the north at Tangkoko we saw Great-billed, Green-backed, Sulawesi Lilac and Sulawesi Dwarf Kingfishers, Purple-winged Roller, Ornate Lorikeet, Sulawesi Pitta, Sulawesi Nightjar and Sulawesi Scops Owl. On Halmahera we found Moluccan King Parrot, Chattering Lory, Barking Owl, Sombre and Beach Kingfishers, Goliath Coucals, Ivory-breasted and North Moluccan Pitta, Halmahera Paradise Crows, Halmahera Leaf Warbler, and watched the thrilling displays of Wallace’s Standardwing. […]